Chapter 24
Downtime and the Pace of Ageing — Part 3
Let’s take a step back and reflect on the benefits of shared meals and what we can do to change this epidemic of solo eating. Sitting down together at mealtimes is good for mental health at all ages. Whether it be through sharing experiences and bonding with family and friends, winding down with company or just having someone to talk to, mealtimes provide a great opportunity for us to set aside a specific time of the day or week to socialise, to relax and to improve mental well-being. Sharing meals develops social skills in children and adolescents who learn from behaviour modelled by grandparents, parents and older siblings. Mealtimes provide an opportunity where children and adolescents learn to listen and interact in conversation. Qualities such as empathy and understanding are developed, as views and perspectives other than one’s own are discussed. Mealtimes are the perfect opportunity to share the invaluable wisdom that older adults have accumulated over a lifetime. ‘Shared eating’, with generations of family and friends coming together to share meals, is standard practice in all the Blue Zones and is cited as one of the reasons for the centenarians’ healthy longevity.
In light of the evidence showing that eating alone or on the run increases the risk of obesity and poor nutrition, as well as negative inter-generational outcomes, a renaissance of the family meal or regular meals with friends is surely in order. The UK’s Mental Health Foundation has made the following recommendations for shared meals:
Chapter 6: Downtime and the Pace of Ageing
Make a date – Set achievable goals. Set aside at least one day every week for sharing a meal with family or friends. This should be an event that is an honoured and routine part of every week, whether it’s a leisurely breakfast, dinner on a Friday or lunch on Sunday. Make sure everyone is involved, both in deciding the day and in making sure it’s kept free. I recommend that when a face-to-face meal is not possible, one tries to use technology to ensure that all or most members are present at one meal per day.
Hassle-free meals – When planning the meal try to choose something that is tasty but relatively simple and easy to prepare. This will ensure that the tradition continues and doesn’t become a chore.
Share responsibility – Get everyone involved. Decide who will choose what will be served, do the grocery shopping, set the table, cook and do the dishes. Rotate these tasks.
Plan meals in advance – Planning meals in advance will save time in the long run and provide an opportunity to put a little more thought into introducing a variety of interesting dishes into mealtimes. Ask others for input into meal planning.
Involve children and grandchildren – Over the course of time, get them involved in all aspects of mealtime preparation, from menu planning to cooking to doing the dishes.
Telly-free – Try to use the opportunity mealtimes provide to talk and share. A television on during a meal is distracting, even if it’s only in the background.
Chapter 6: Downtime and the Pace of Ageing
If none of the above is possible for you then try to adopt ways to improve mealtimes alone. Assemble a healthy appetising meal at least once a day, putting time into preparation whilst listening to your favourite podcast or watching a good TV show. Even try out new recipes that challenge you. Eat out more frequently. Bring a book when eating alone and enjoy the experience. If you have friends eating alone, share a call during joint mealtimes and even jointly experiment with recipes. Many of us have no choice but to eat alone so don’t hesitate to reach out to others if you can because they will most likely be feeling the need as much as you are. My colleague Shane O’Mara, a neuroscientist at Trinity College, Dublin, has written a bestseller about the many benefits of walking on mood and brain function. In his book, In Praise of Walking, he includes further evidence for the superior impact of walking outdoors in the natural environ. If we become used to walking and then stop, we miss the stimulus and become cranky and dissatisfied. Personalities change for the worst if we’re deprived of walking. With bodies in motion, we think more creatively, our mood improves and stress levels fall. Researchers from Stanford showed how walking boosts creative inspiration. They examined creativity levels while people walked versus while they sat. A person’s creative output increased by 60 per cent when walking. Even walking indoors on a treadmill in a room facing a blank wall produced twice as many creative responses compared to a person sitting down and these responses were further enhanced by walking outdoors. The study also found that creative juices continued to flow when a person sat back down shortly after a walk. Walking and creativity are both stress busters and positive mood enhancers. When the fight-or-flight response is appropriately invoked, it helps us rise to a sudden challenge. But trouble starts when the response is constantly provoked by stress and day-to-day events, such as money woes, traffic jams, health worries, job worries or relationship problems. So, having discussed the issues with and causes of stress, let’s now reflect on evidence-based techniques to destress. Relaxation and destressing responses through controlled breathing were first introduced in the 1970s by a Harvard cardiologist to mitigate against chronic stress. Slow, deep, regular breathing induces relaxation through enhanced parasympathetic activity. Simply breathing in slowly and deeply, pushing the stomach out so that the diaphragm is put to maximal use, then holding the breath briefly and exhaling slowly invokes relaxation. This should be repeated 5 to 10 times, concentrating on breathing deeply and slowly. Deep breathing is so easy and can be done at any time, in any place.
Chapter 6: Downtime and the Pace of Ageing
Rigorous scientific studies have confirmed the value of the ancient practice of meditation for not only dealing with stress but achieving long-term holistic health. Using brain scans, meditation has been proven to preserve grey and white matter, the main structural tissues of the brain. It also has the potential to suppress processes implicated in brain ageing and confer ‘neuroprotection’, which means protection of brain cells from decay and death. Meditation increases brain blood flow and oxygenation and decreases the action of the sympathetic ‘fight-or-flight’ nervous system, with a corresponding increase in parasympathetic ‘relaxation’ nervous system activity. Neurotrophins, the family of proteins that increase survival and lifespan of brain cells, rise as a consequence. The mitochondria, present in every cell in the brain and body, produce 90 per cent of the cell’s energy and this energy production increases during meditation. So, given these remarkable holistic benefits, having a go at mediation is surely a ‘no brainer’! Thích Nhát Hanh is a Vietnamese Thien Buddhist monk and strong advocate for mindfulness. He is, at the time of writing, aged 93. He has many wonderful sayings. With respect to mindfulness, he explains that, ‘Life is available only in the present moment which underscores the principal behind mindfulness.’ Dispositional mindfulness (sometimes known as trait mindfulness) is a type of consciousness that has only lately been given serious research considerations. It is defined as a keen awareness of and attention to thoughts and feelings in the present moment, and research shows that the ability to engage in this has many physical, psychological and cognitive benefits, including decreasing stress and worry. Dispositional mindfulness is a quality in life, a fixed trait, rather than a state to enter into during practice. Mindfulness requires training. We are constantly allowing our minds to wander, particularly into the future and to places of worry about possible forthcoming events. This causes us to fret about things that have not happened and may never happen, rather than focusing on the present. Distraction is unhealthy and a waste of time. Mindfulness is like a workout for the brain. We repeatedly pull our thoughts back to the present. This can be practised during a period of time each day or, better still, become a part of our everyday lives where we learn to ‘stay in the present’ at all times. The latter is dispositional mindfulness. Recently, there has been a surge of interest in how mindfulness and meditation improve biological ageing and, in particular, enhance the immune system. More trials are necessary to confirm these promising observations. Another technique that I recommend to patients is progressive relaxation of skeletal muscles – the muscles we use to move our bodies and that are under our control, as opposed to the heart muscle, for example. Stressed muscles are tight and tense and by relaxing them, we dissipate stress.